Industry Ministry establishes global tech centers with major U.S. universities

Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun speaks during a meeting in Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Korea's Industry Ministry named six overseas partner institutions, including MIT and Yale University, to establish global technology cooperation centers.

The other partner institutions include Purdue University, Fraunhofer, Johns Hopkins University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Friday.

"The six cooperation centers will provide all necessary support for global joint R&D projects," Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said.

"We plan to come up with a global open innovation support strategy to promote M&As, technology transfers, licensing and the recruitment of competitive experts," he added.

The global industrial technology cooperation centers aim to serve as channels for promoting joint research and development projects, the ministry said.

The research activities will mainly focus on semiconductors, biotechnology, robots and AI, as well as similar areas.

South Korea plans to invest 684 billion won ($505 million) in the centers over the next five years, including 57.5 billion won this year to launch 45 projects to secure cutting-edge core technologies.

BY SEO JI-EUN, YONHAP [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]